Railroad wheel clamp



G. W. PIPE.

RAILROAD WHEEL CLAMP.

APPLlCATlON FILED FEB. 11. 192

1,402,793, 4 Patented Jan. 10, 1922.

G-EQRGE PIPE, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

RAILROAD WHEEL CLAMP.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, Gnonen W. PIPE, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Railroad lVheel Clamp, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for replacing worn out bushings or so called brasses in journal bearings of railroad car axles, and the object is to provide a simple and efficient device of said kind.

In the accompanying drawing;

Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation of my device, the adjacent parts of a car truck and a portion of a railroad track the latter two being shown partly in section.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of fieferring to the drawing by reference numerals 3 represents a rail, 4: a tie of a railway track, 5 a car wheel with rail flange 6, tread flange 7, web 8 and hub 9. The axle 10 fitted in the wheel hub and projecting through same has a flange 11 at the outer end of its bearing portion 12.

In the usual railroad car truck construction a journal box 13 has a semi-cylindrical seat 1 1 for a correspondingly shaped flanged semi-cylindrical bushing 15 the inner surface of which contacts with the journal 12 of the axle 11.

The journal box is of the usual hollow construction extending below the axle and outward beyond the end of the axle where it has an opening 16, permitting oily rags or waste 17 to be placed in the box around the axle and thus lubricating the latter.

The main part of my device is a clamp 18 Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 17, 1921.

Patented J an. 10, 1922.

Serial No. 445,717.

preferably made of high grade steel and large enough to straddle the tread 19 of the rail and rim 7 of the wheel. Preferably the clamp may have a set screw 20 in the top end of it. A common jack screw 21 with handle 21*, placed on a plank 22, which may extend across 2 or more ties, is placed directly back of the clamp directly under the journal box 13 in position to raise the latter. A. rearwardly projecting lug 23 on the clamp may be used as a buffer against the jack to keep the clamp from slipping away from the rail and the wheel flange. Lug 23 has vertically projecting side arms 23* adapted to straddle handle 21* of the ack, as shown in Fig. 1.

In the application and operation of my device when the jack screw is applied the head of the jack screw gradually raises the journal box approximately to dotted position in Fig. 1, the wheel remaining clamped to the track and the journal box bearing being raised above the axle leaves the bushing 15 free and accessible so that it can be removed and replaced with a new bushing. The device thus overcomes the well known trouble that the wheel will raise with the journal box.

l/Vhat I claim is:

In a device of the kind described, a screw clamp straddling a portion of the car wheel and the adjacent portion of the track rail, a lifting device mounted 011 the ties near the said rail for lifting the journal box, said clamp having an outwardly projecting arm with spaced vertical lugs arranged to engage the lifting device and prevent both slipping and turning movement of the clamp.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

GEORGE W. PIPE. 

